Sheany, Jakarta – Police have shot dead five and arrested 20 suspected terrorists believed to be linked to the recent attacks in Surabaya, East Java, and a riot at the detention center of the National Police's Mobile Brigade, or Brimob, in Depok, West Java.
"We have secured 25 suspected terrorists in West Java," provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto said on Sunday (16/07), as reported by state-run news agency Antara.
He added that five of the suspects – four in Cianjur and one in Subang – were shot dead by officers for resisting arrest.
Agung said the suspects arrested in Subang are affiliated with the Jemaah Ansharut Daulah terrorist group and based in Haurgeulis, a subdistrict of Indramayu, West Java.
The Islamic State-linked local terrorist group was responsible for a series of attacks that claimed the lives of dozens in Surabaya in May.
Meanwhile, the National Police's elite counterterrorism unit, Detachment 88, also shot dead three suspected terrorists in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Saturday.
According to Muhammad Najib Azca, head of the Center for Security and Peace Studies at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, the suspects killed in Sleman were part of a jihadist sleeper cell.
"All this time, they had been inactive, merely observing and refraining from communicating. But their ideological conviction persisted and they were only waiting for a trigger," Najib said, as quoted by Suara Pembaruan.
Najib said although it is impossible to establish their affiliation, he believes their main aim was to transform Indonesia into an Islamic caliphate.
Following the incident in Yogyakarta, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called on the public to cooperate with the authorities to eradicate terrorism in Indonesia.
"We have to realize that terrorism is still present in our country. I call on all citizens to work together with the authorities to help resolve this issue," Jokowi said, as quoted by BeritaSatu.com.
The leaders of 28 Asian countries are expected to attend the opening ceremony of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta next month.
Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/terrorism/police-kill-5-arrest-20-terror-suspects-in-west-java/